Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI have both offered contributions to Bartholomew: Apostle and Visionary, an official biography of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew written by John Chryssavgis and published by Thomas Nelson.Pope Francis, who wrote the book’s foreword, emphasized that he and the Eastern Orthodox leader have a “shared understanding of the common pastoral responsibility we have in this moment in history” – manifest in their joint concern for a world in which there is respect for human dignity and fundamental freedoms (“the most important of which is the freedom of religion”), as well as in their concern for the integrity of creation and the globalization of indifference.
In his contribution, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI linked the Ecumenical Patriarch’s concern for creation to the ad orientem celebration of the sacred liturgy.
“In the orientation of the liturgy toward the east, we see that Christians, together with the Lord, desire to proceed toward the salvation of creation in its entirety,” Pope Benedict wrote.
“Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, is at the same time also the ‘sun’ that illumines the world.”
Other contributors to the book include Vice President Joe Biden, former Vice President Al Gore, George Stephanopoulos, and Jane Goodall.